The present invention relates to a mobile X-ray apparatus which comprises a carriage provided with at least one pair of independently driven driving wheels and their motor means, the carriage including a driving handle which comprises side bars and a crossbar extending between them, the said apparatus in addition comprising means responsive to the movement of the driving handle, which responsive means control the operation of the motor means in order to steer the carriage in the desired direction.
The mobile X-ray apparatus comprises a carriage to which is connected an X-ray source, X-ray receiving means and the control electronics required, and possibly a monitor for immediate examination of, for example, digitally produced X-ray photographs. When accumulators are used as the power source of a mobile X-ray apparatus, the weight of the apparatus increases and may be, for example, of the order of 300 kg, which means that to make the apparatus lighter to move, the driving motion must be motorised. One way of controlling this type of a motorised X-ray apparatus is to provide a driving handle, the manual moving of which provides control signals for driving the motor means of the driving wheels of the carriage, in order to steer the carriage in the desired direction. One such solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,661, in which the operation of the driving handle is based on converting the movement of the driving handle into a bending movement of the cantilevered arms arranged in the vicinity of the driving handle, the bending movement causing the said control signals to be produced. One object of the present invention is to achieve a new type of mobile X-ray apparatus in which the movement of the driving handle can be converted relatively simply and reliably into an electric signal controlling the control electronics of the motor means. An important additional object is to provide a motorised mobile X-ray apparatus which is additionally arranged to be manually movable without the motor means in exceptional situations.
In order to achieve the objects of the invention, the mobile X-ray apparatus relating to the invention is characterised in that the side bars of the driving handle are attached to a rotation axis solidly fixed to the carriage, so as to turn about the axis; that the side bars and the crossbar are connected to each other in an articulated manner to allow the turning movement of the side bars about the said rotation axis to different extents and/or in different directions; that the side bars are provided with means which move along with the turning movement of the respective side bar each time, and the movement of which means is measured by measuring means which convert the movement of the said means into an electric signal by means of which the operation of the motor means of the driving wheels is controlled.